4 seek 2 seats in Union Vale race

Nov. 3, 2013

Written by

Poughkeepsie Journal

The race for the supervisor’s job, held by Lisette Hitsman, a Republican, is uncontested, as are the races for clerk, highway superintendent, justice and tax collector.

The council incumbents up for a four-year term are John J. Welsh, 64, and Steven Frazier, 53, both Republicans who also have Conservative and Independence endorsement.

Their challengers are David B. McMorris, 67, making his third run for the board, and James F. Kane, 25, who is running for the first time. Kane has the Democratic line while McMorris is running on the Working Families line.

McMorris and Kane want to promote a board that is more open to different views and not all-Republican.

“They have some lopsidedly applied rules on who can speak at each meeting,” Kane said.

McMorris wants to look at ways to let the public ask questions when issues arise during meetings. Right now, there is only a comment period at the start of meetings for items on the agenda and one at the end for any item.

McMorris favors more attention to the town’s northern park, Godfrey Park. He said residents want a pavilion and more facilities there, not just at Tymor Park in the southern end of town.

Welsh, a longtime council member, says he wants “continued improvement of town-owned facilities, getting as much assistance as possible through various levels of government grants and maintaining services that people need and want, and keeping Union Vale a nice place to live.”

Frazier joined the board in 2012 by appointment.

“What I would like to do is to put as much efficiency in the town departments as possible, which will in the end save the taxpayers money,” he said. “I’d like to promote some commercial development in the limited areas we have available ... to generate revenue,” but at the same time, “We want to maintain the country feel of the town.”

An issue here is the housing development project on East Mountain, where about two dozen high-end homes would be built on very large lots. The first phase was begun in the late 1980s but the new phase has become mired in litigation brought by the developer against the town.

The incumbents said they could not discuss it due to the litigation. Welsh said it’s up to the Planning Board to work it out, not the Town Board.

Kane said the project seems desirable and would contribute nicely to the tax base.

McMorris said the lawsuits that have tied up the project date to Frazier’s time on the Planning Board. Frazier said the litigation began after he left the board.

“They’re costing the taxpayer a lot of money,” he said.

“It’s going to be a good project, but there’s some issues that have got to be worked out,” Frazier said.

The councilman positions are for four-year terms and pay $5,533 per year.